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Title: Critical analysis of alloy 600 stress corrosion cracking mechanisms in primary water

Journal Article · · Metallurgical Transactions, A
 [1]; ;  [2];  [3]
  1. Electricite De France, Villeneuve d`Ascq (France)
  2. Electricite De France, Moret-sur-Loing (France)
  3. Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines, Saint-Etienne (France)

In order to study the mechanisms involved in the stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) of Alloy 600 in primary water, the influence of the relevance of physicochemical and metallurgical parameters was assessed: hydrogen and oxygen overpressures, microstructure, and local chemical composition. The obtained results show that, even if the dissolution/oxidation seems to be the first and necessary step responsible for crack initiation and if hydrogen effects can also be involved in cracking, neither a dissolution/oxidation model nor a hydrogen model appears sufficient to account for cracking. Moreover, fractographic examinations performed on specimens` fracture surfaces lead to the fact that attention should be paid to a cleavage like microcracking mechanism involving interactions between corrosion and plasticity at the vicinity of grain boundaries. A corrosion-enhanced plasticity model is proposed to describe the intergranular and transgranular cracking in Alloy 600.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
42865
Journal Information:
Metallurgical Transactions, A, Vol. 26, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English